Bank-protector.



M. B. FRANK.

BANK PROTEU'IOR.

APPLICATION FILED T11R24, 1910.

Patnted Now-1, 1910.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Wain $9 I i M. E. FRANK.

BANK PROTECTOR.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 24, 1910.

Patented Nov. I, 1910.

M. B. FRANK.

BANK PBOTEGTOR. A'PILIOATION FILED 31:12. 24, 1910.

Patented Nov. 1,1910.

'4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

w my- M. E. FRANK. f BANKPROTEGTOR. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 34, 1910.

1 1910. 4 SEEETB SHEET 4.

' Patented Nov.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MICHAEL-E. FRANK, or sniinoYeAN, WISCONSIN, nssrenon orbnEl-rn'mn r LOUIS HERMAN, or SHEBOYGAN, WISCONSIN.

BANK-PROTECTOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

To all 'wlwm it may concern:

Be it known that I, MICHAEL E. FRANK, a Citizen of the United States, and resident of Sheboygan, in the county of Sheboygan and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bank- Protectors; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple and effective burglar trap equipment for buildings and also. to insure the safety of the occupants thereof, the invention being especially, applicable to banking institutions or the like, wherein the lives of the cashiers are frequently exposed and endangered by attacks from burglars during business hours.

In a broad sense the invention contemplates the use of either weight or springcontrolled closures for the various doorways and windows of the building, together with bullet-proof shields for the cashiers cagewindows, all being connected and under foot-lever control, whereby any employee or person within the caged inclosure of the institution may release the entire series of door closures and shields, all of which will instantaneously operate to close the foyer from entrance or exit to thus entrap the occupants thereof, which occupants are at the same time isolated from the caged portion of the institution, while atthe same time the person of each cashieris protected by the bullet-proof shield.

The invention therefore consists in various structural features and combination of parts to be fully set forth hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings and subsequently claimed.

. In the drawings Figure 1 represents a sectional elevation of a portion of a building embodying the features of my invention, the section being taken through the main entrance of the building and a cashiers window; Fig. 2, a setional plan view of the same; Fig.3, an eri'arged details'ectional view of a portion of 'a cashiers window, illustrating the mechanism of a bulletproof shield for the same in its normal. or locked position; Fig. 4, a detail cross-section of the same as indicated by line 4-4 of Fig. 3, and Fig. 5, a view in diagram of the-entire mechanism, showing the system' of levers. and their cable connections.

Referring by characters to the drawings, 1 represents the entrance-way of a building provided with a vestibule 2, which may or PatentedNov. 1, 1910.

Application filed February 24, 1910. Serial No. 545,675.

'may not be equipped with swinging doors,

but is provided with a sliding metallic door 3, which door is normally locked open in such position that its upper edge is flush with the floor line. The metallic door 3 is slidably mounted in ways 4, with which the side walls of the vestibule are provided, the ways being perferably formed in boxes having weights 5 therein. The construction of this door is similar to the construction as shown in Fig. 3 0f the drawings, in which view the window shield is illustrated. The

boxed weights 5,'as shown in the diagram,

latch 8 is connected by a rod or cable 10 to.

an arm 11.;ofa lever 12, which lever is fulcrumed to a bracket 13 that is-"suspende'd from the ceiling of the room just beneath the main floor of the building. The lever 12 has a treadle extension 14 that extends up through an aperture in the floor conveniently located adjacent'to a cashiers' window A, there being a spring l5interpose'd between the treadle-head and floor. In order to conceal the treadle-head andalso to protect the'same from being accidentally operated, I preferably incase said treadle within a flexible shield 16, which shield is designed to conform to a standard cuspidor. To counterbalance the resistance of the various cable connections between the lever 13 and other parts of the mechanism the said lever is preferably provided with a counter- .weight 17.

Incased within the caged partition wall 18 is a slidable bullet-proof shield or blind 19, the upper edge of which shield is normally flush with the sill ofthe cashiers window. As best shown in Fig. 3, the side edges of this shield are provided with roll ers 20 arranged to travel upon ways 21, which ways form one of the walls of boxes 22 within the partition wall 18. The boxes serve as housings for weights 23, which weights are connected by cables or chains 24 to the upper portion ofthe shield, the cable being arranged to travel over rollers 25 within the boxes.

latch is fulcrumed within a bracket secured to the floor and provided with a nose that is adapted to engage an aperture in said shield. When the latch is released it is obvious that the weights will cause said shield -to immediately rise and close the cashiers window, it being understood that any form of slidable weight-controlled shield may be utilized for that shown. One

of the edges of the shield is shown as pro' vided with a toothed rack 27, adapted to be engaged by a pawl 28. This pawl and ratchet is designed to lock the shield and thus prevent it being pushed back into the partition after the same has once been released, such a precautionary mechanism being provided in some instances where it would be likely that a burglar may attempt to force the shield back to its normal position in order to have access to the person of the cashier, or currency that may be located within the cage. A similar mechanism to this may be also utilized in connection with the doors or windows of the apartment. To return the door or shield to its normal position, this pawl 28 can be retracted from toothed engagement with the rack by means of a handle 29 which extends outwardly throu h the partition and in a position accessible to persons within the cage. When such a' device is used in connection with a door as shown, the, same may be located in the room below or, when used in connection with a window, the handle may be concealed in such manner that it would be impossible for a burglar to locate the same. The shield 19 is so positioned in the cage partition that it will not interfere with the usual barred grating 30, which grating as shown in Fig. 1, is located outside of said shield.

The cashie'rs desk is provided with a hinged metallic blind or lid 31, which lid is held closed by a spring-controlled latch 32- that engages a tongue 33 depending from said; lid. The latch serves to lock the lid in opposition to a series of strong springs '34, which springs are suitably supported within the desk and arranged to impinge againstthe lower face of said lid. By this arrangement it willbescen that when the latch 32 is released, the action of the springs will.

cause the lid to instantaneously swing upward upon its hinges and thus close the cashiers window. This lid, together with the The shield is normally locked down in opposition to the weights by a spring-controlled trip latch '26, which shield and doors previously mentioned, comprise a series of bullet-proof blinds which are designed to not only protect the employees of the institution, but also serve as a burglar trap. Owing to the strength of the springs the closing action of the lid will be instantaneous and therefore insure immediate protection to the cashier against bullets or other weapons in the hands of a burglar within the foyer of the apartment, it being understood that the swinging lidwill effect the closure comparatively much quicker than would be obtained by the sliding shield. After the lid has been thrown upward it is secured by means of a locking member 35 and thus said lid cannot be returned to its normal position except by an employee upon the inside of the cage or partition.

While I have shown and described the cashiers cage as being equipped with the bullet-proof swinging desk lid and slidable shield, it is understood that in some instances for economy in construction, the shield may be dispensed with or vice versa.

When the shield 19 has been released to effect a closure of the window, the lower portion of the body of the cashier is protected by utilizing a bullet-proof panel 36, which panel, as shown in Fig. l, is located beneath the desk, but in instances where -metallic partitions are utilized the armored panel may be dis ensed with.

As shown in F 1g. 2 and the diagram Fig. 5, the room is equipped with three cashiers windows A, B and 0, all of which windows are provided with a mechanism similar to that described in connection with the cashiers window A, with the exception that the levers 12 and 12 respectively of the last. named windows are not-provided with arms 11. This arm 11, as previously stated, is directly connected to the metallic door 3 which controls the main entrance of the building and, as shown in Fig. 2, a similar sliding door 3 is arranged in connection with the entrance to the inner caged compartment. This door 3 is also connected by a cable 10 to the cable 10, being passed over a ide-pulley 37. Thus it will be seen that w en the lever 12 under the cashiers window A is operated the door 3 will also be released.

While I have shown and described the levers 12' and 12" as having no provision for direct connection with the sliding doors 1 C pensed with.

Sti s doors for economy sake may be dis- 12C With a view to instantaneous operation of all of the foot treadle levers when any one of the system havebeen depressed, I have I shown a series of cable connections between the series, of levers, which is. clearly illustrated in the diagram Fig. -5. In said'diagram lever 12 is provided with an extension 38, which extension has connected thereto a cable that passes over a pulley a and under a pulley a to a similar extension 38 of the lever 12*. A continuation a of this cable passes over a cable a to an idle guide-pulley ,aP, at which. point the said cable makes a are connected in such a manner that movement of any one of said levers will cause the other levers of thesystem to be moved in the same direction. By this arrangement the lever 12 may be considered the masterlever of the system 'andwill thus actuate all sliding doors or windows of the building, it being understood that the windows (not shown) are equipped with blinds similar in construction to the shields described in connection with the cashiers windows.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that if a burglar should enterthe foyer of the bank and make the slightest threatening movement toward a cashier, the latter can, without changing his position, touch. the treadle-portion 14 of his lever and thus cause all of-the cashiers windows to be im-] mediately closed, while at the same ,time the metallic-doors will close the various doorways'and thus the burglarwill be confined and isolated within the foyer so that he is effectually trapped and can be readily-captured without endangering the lives of the employees of the institution. Attention is also called to the fact that even should the burglar resort to firearms, the quickness with which the swinging lid of the cashiers desk can be brought to position will cause a V deflection of'any bullets which may-pass through'th'e window. After the mechanism. has been automatically released, it can be restored to its normal posltion by means of a central Windlass 39,-which windlass is conveniently placed within the cellar or beneath can readilybe attached to the various metal-. 'lic doors, whereby the samemay be drawn down-to the position as shown in Fig. 1, it

being also obvious that the shields are drawn down in a similar manner and, as shown in Fig. 1, each shield is provided with a sec- .tion of cable'40, to which the Windlass cable may be conveniently connected when the shlelds are'in their released or closed posi tion. Each foot-treadle, as best shown in .Fig. 1, is also connected by a cable to the .trip-dogs. 26 and 32 controlling the shield and swinging lid, whereby depression of the lever will release the aforesaid shield and lid in the manner previously mentioned. I

While I have shown and described various mechanisms in detail for accomplishing the desired result, it should be understood that I do not confine myself to any specific structural details for accomplishing the various movements incidental to the releasing operation, but it is preferable to actuate the series of trip-latches positively by means of some direct wire or cable connections to the various Ile'vers for the reason that by using a positive mechanism of this character there is v less liability of failure of the mechanism to operate in an emergency, but it should be understood that electrical release mechanism may be employed in some instances, and such electrical release mechanism is within the scope of my -1nvent1on,as belng means, for

releasing the various protecting and trap mechanisms. n The operating weights comprising-the actuating motors of the sliding shields and doors, while-being shown in connection with grooved pulleys and cables, are in practice connected by sprocketwheels and chains in place of'said grooved rollers, the last named construction bein preferable for the reason that it is less liab e to wear.

I claim: 1. Ina commercial institution having a cashiers window, a protecting device comprising a bullet-proof blind for the window, .a motor-controlled actuating mechanism in connection with the bullet-proof blind, a locking-latgh for the actuating mechanism, a treadlerelease lever for the latch and a -flexibleshield for concealing theoperating extension of the treadle.

2. In a commercial institution havm an inclosed cage, a series of cashiers win ows in the cage, 9. main doorway and a communicatin doorway to the cashiers cage, a protectin device and burglar trap comprising slida le blinds for the cashier win ows and doorways, actuating Wei hts for the 1 blinds, spring-controlled hinge lids for the cashiers windows, lockingv latches for the blinds and hinged lids,'a foot treadle in juxtaposition to each cashiers window, and means connecting each foot-treadle with all of the locking latches.

73.1In a. commercial institution having a cashiers window, a protecting device com-.

prising a spring-controlled bullet-proof hinged lid for the window, a locking-latch for the lid, and a foot-treadle in juxtaposition to the window, the foot-treadle being latches for the blinds and hinged lid, a foottreadle in juxtaposition to the ashiers window, and means connecting the foot treadle with all of the locking latches.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand at Sheb'oygan in the county of Sheboygan and State of Wisa0 consin in the presence of two witnesses.

MICHAEL E. FRANK.

l/Vitnesses:

LOUIS HERMAN, HENRY I. NEWENS. 

